As an elderly person, living alone in Korea is difficult. What options do senior citizens have for nursing home facilities? Dr. Justin Lee, Managing Director of Spire Research and Consulting, South Korea shared his thoughts on Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo news portal.
Korea now has 3,316 Nursing Homes and 1,500 specialized elderly hospitals nation-wide.
The need for specialised elderly care in Korea is on a gradual rise, as those with health complications cannot live independently. At present, senior citizens with grade ratings of 1 or 2 for long term care under the Long-Term Care Insurance scheme are entitled to use these public Nursing home facilities.
Dr. Lee opined that paying more does not necessarily mean a better nursing home. Costs in public nursing homes are not consistently higher than those in private ones. Within the public nursing homes, the cost variation is minimal regardless of their management quality as public nursing homes need to abide by set government guidelines for charges.
This is the reason the National Health Insurance Corporation offers an online platform where long-term care institutions nationwide are rated from A to E with details on area, facilities and vacancies available.
Nonetheless, what factors need to be considered when selecting a nursing home? A few factors include monthly expense, the availability of different lifestyle facilities, hygiene standards, food quality and the overall behavior of the staff.
https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/media/nursing-homes-for-the-elderly-in-korea/
